editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Nationally renowned broadcast journalist Susan Stamberg is special correspondent for NPR.Stamberg is the first woman to anchor a national nightly news program, and has won every major award in broadcasting. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame. An NPR "founding mother," Stamberg has been on staff since the network began in 1971.Beginning in 1972, Stamberg served as co-host of NPR's award-winning newsmagazine All Things Considered for 14 years. She then hosted Weekend Edition Sunday, and now serves as guest host of NPR's Morning Edition and Weekend Edition Saturday, in addition to reporting on cultural issues for Morning Edition.One of the most popular broadcasters in public radio, Stamberg is well known for her conversational style, intelligence, and knack for finding an interesting story. Her interviewing has been called "fresh," "friendly, down-to-earth," and (by novelist E.L. Doctorow) "the closest thing to an enlightened humanist onNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Susan StambergWed, 10 Aug 2016 10:43:41 +0000Susan Stamberghttp://wjsu.org
Susan StambergIn Paris, a really old dress has sold for more than $150,000. Now, if that sounds like an unreasonably high price tag, keep this in mind: The 1730s dress is in mint condition, it might have been worn at Versailles, and it was part of a fashion revolution.Known as a robe volante — or flying dress — the long, luscious yellow brocade gown is patterned with silver thread. It's loose-cut, with soft pleats in the rear, a deep V in front and graceful flow-y sleeves.It was purchased by Palais Galliera, a fashion museum in Paris. Curator Pascale Gorguet-Ballesteros says the robe volante is historically significant — for France and for fashion as a whole.Before the sale, an auction house in Lyon sent textile expert Raphael Maravelle Utan to Paris by train to show the dress to prospective clients."He brought it in a specially designed suitcase," says historian Joan de Jean, author of The Age of Comfort.While en route, a bid arrived by text — for over a 100,000 euros more than he expected. UtanVive Le Confort! For Corseted Courtiers, This Dress Was A French Revolutionhttp://wjsu.org/post/vive-le-confort-corseted-courtiers-dress-was-french-revolution
54135 as http://wjsu.orgTue, 09 Aug 2016 09:00:00 +0000Vive Le Confort! For Corseted Courtiers, This Dress Was A French RevolutionSusan StambergGeorgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper and George Bellows were very different artists, but they did have at least one thing in common: They all studied with painter William Merritt Chase. Now, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., is marking the centennial of the artist's death with a retrospective."You walk around these galleries and the paintings are gutsy and bold and scintillating and brilliant," says Dorothy Kosinski, director of the Phillips.On display are his portraits, landscapes, domestic scenes, and still life paintings. Chase made everyday objects — like onions and fish — gorgeous. The dead, silver fish spread out on platters look as if they could leap off the plate in a second. Chase often painted fish during class demonstrations at his New York School of Art, says curator Katherine Bourguignon of the Terra Foundation for American Art."The students write about this: He went to the fish market, bought the fish, he painted it, and returned the fish before it went bad," sheMeet William Merritt Chase, The Man Who Taught America's Mastershttp://wjsu.org/post/meet-william-merritt-chase-man-who-taught-americas-masters
52697 as http://wjsu.orgTue, 28 Jun 2016 09:02:00 +0000Meet William Merritt Chase, The Man Who Taught America's MastersSusan StambergCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Looking Back On How The National Gallery Of Art Got Its Start 75 Years Agohttp://wjsu.org/post/looking-back-how-national-gallery-art-got-its-start-75-years-ago
52412 as http://wjsu.orgSun, 19 Jun 2016 12:06:00 +0000Looking Back On How The National Gallery Of Art Got Its Start 75 Years AgoSusan StambergCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Library Of Congress Opens 'Jazz Singers' Exhibitionhttp://wjsu.org/post/library-congress-opens-jazz-singers-exhibition
51370 as http://wjsu.orgSun, 15 May 2016 11:58:00 +0000Library Of Congress Opens 'Jazz Singers' ExhibitionSusan StambergOne of the world's most precious volumes starts a tour on Monday, in Norman, Okla. The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is sending out William Shakespeare's First Folio to all 50 states to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard's death. Published seven years after he died, the First Folio is the first printed collection of all of Shakespeare's plays.The Folger has 82 First Folios — the largest collection in the world. It's located several stairways down, in a rare manuscript vault. To reach them, you first have to get through a fire door ... (if a fire did threaten these priceless objects, it would be extinguished not with water — never water near priceless paper — but with a system that removes oxygen from the room).A massive safe door comes next — so heavy it takes two burly guards to open it, and then yet another door, which triggers a bell to alert librarians that someone has entered. After that, there's yet another door and an elevator waaaay down to a vault that400 Years After His Death, Shakespeare's First Folio Goes Out On Tourhttp://wjsu.org/post/400-years-after-his-death-shakespeares-first-folio-goes-out-tour
47159 as http://wjsu.orgMon, 04 Jan 2016 10:05:00 +0000400 Years After His Death, Shakespeare's First Folio Goes Out On TourSusan StambergEditor's note: For more years than we can remember, the Friday before Thanksgiving has meant that NPR's Susan Stamberg would try to sneak a notorious and, yes, weird family recipe into NPR's coverage. And 2015 is no exception. Here's Susan. I recently learned about a long ago and faraway Thanksgiving in Kabul, Afghanistan. In 2011, at the height of the military surge, hundreds of Americans — soldiers and civilians — were coming into the country. Ann Exline Starr of the U.S. Agency for International Development, was on a team trying to suss out fraud, waste and abuse in government contracts. She says security at the embassy compound was tight."You had to go under the road to get to the USAID offices, and we were actually in a bunker," Exline Starr says.Pretty grim. For Thanksgiving, she organized a potluck dinner in her apartment. With all the Americans in Kabul, Exline Starr says, she was lucky to be in an apartment. She had previously lived in a "hooch" — a containerized housing unit.For Expats In Afghanistan, A Cranberry Dish To Relish Far From Homehttp://wjsu.org/post/ex-pats-afghanistan-cranberry-dish-relish-far-home
45862 as http://wjsu.orgFri, 20 Nov 2015 10:09:00 +0000For Expats In Afghanistan, A Cranberry Dish To Relish Far From HomeSusan StambergSmack in the middle of all the political clatter in Washington, D.C., stands a solitary, serene woman in a pale blue satin jacket, reading a letter. She's from the 17th century, and her visit marks an important anniversary for the National Gallery of Art.She was painted by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer around 1663. Twenty years ago, in 1995, the National Gallery put on the first Vermeer retrospective ever, featuring 22 of only some 35 Vermeers known to exist. The show was a hit — despite some pretty serious hurdles.Arthur Wheelock, who curated that exhibit, says the paintings made a huge impression, even on folks who couldn't make it. "I even got a letter from a prisoner in Leavenworth who obviously could not come, but ... just knowing that this was there somehow made him feel better about life," Wheelock says.Twenty years ago, lines formed well before dawn — even though the gallery didn't open until 10 a.m.But in the middle of all the Vermeer excitement the federal government shutVermeer's 'Woman In Blue' Returns To D.C., Hoping For Better Luck This Timehttp://wjsu.org/post/vermeers-woman-blue-returns-dc-hoping-better-luck-time
45134 as http://wjsu.orgThu, 29 Oct 2015 09:46:00 +0000Vermeer's 'Woman In Blue' Returns To D.C., Hoping For Better Luck This TimeSusan StambergThe first president of National Public Radio has died. Don Quayle was 84 years old. He had a long career in public broadcasting — both television and radio. NPR's Susan Stamberg reflects on his impact.Don Quayle gave me my first radio job. It was the early '60s and he was head of the Educational Radio Network — the precursor of NPR — a skinny little network of 12 East Coast stations that developed a daily drive-time news show. He hired me to help produce it. When this national network arose, he was an obvious choice to run it.Don was principled, decent and astute. In the euphoric tumult of our first years, he navigated the choppy seas of building a public radio system. He knew NPR had to serve you, our listeners, above the competing needs of stations, boards and funders.Putting the network's first program, All Things Considered, on the air in 1971, he presided over a dedicated and scrappy staff, and always said his job was to build a structure in which creative people could flourishRemembering Don Quayle, NPR's First Presidenthttp://wjsu.org/post/remembering-don-quayle-nprs-first-president
38789 as http://wjsu.orgFri, 17 Apr 2015 20:34:00 +0000Remembering Don Quayle, NPR's First PresidentSusan StambergDripping in diamonds and shimmering in silks, the movie stars of the 1930s and '40s dazzled on the silver screen. Now, some of their costumes and jewels are on view at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There, a film clip runs on a wall behind gorgeously gowned mannequins lit by sconces and chandeliers. The clip is from 1932's No Man of Her Own, starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Nearby, co-curator Michelle Finamore points to the actual gown Lombard wore. It's long, made of slinky silk crepe and covered in teeny gold-colored glass beads. "I felt like we needed at least one completely bugle-beaded dress in the show because it's a very Hollywood style. ... You need bugle beads," Finamore says.The stars of Hollywood's golden age were dressed like goddesses — in beads, sequins and luxurious materials: "A lot of French fabrics that are silver with metal-wrapped threads," Finamore says, "and the metal is silver and then it's actually gold-plated on top of it. So it's almost like theyGold-Plated Gowns And 8-inch Pumps: The Stuff That Made Starlets Shimmerhttp://wjsu.org/post/gold-plated-gowns-and-8-inch-pumps-stuff-made-starlets-shimmer
34023 as http://wjsu.orgFri, 28 Nov 2014 09:00:00 +0000Gold-Plated Gowns And 8-inch Pumps: The Stuff That Made Starlets ShimmerSusan StambergThe request was forwarded to me from a distant (fifth floor — I'm on the fourth) division of NPR.It came from Justin Lucas, the head of NPR's Audience and Community Relations team. He's the go-to person here for requests from listeners, for information or permissions.He'd gotten a letter from Beth Hansen, owner of Soup and Salad, a small sandwich shop in Easton, Md., a charming old town on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.Justin read me an excerpt of the request: "I'd love to make and sell Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Chutney. A portion of the proceeds ... ""Wait, she says chutney?" I ask."Yes, she says chutney.""It's a relish," I correct."Fair point," says Lucas. Anyway, "a portion of the proceeds will go to either NPR or our local NPR station. Please let me know the terms under which you would allow this. Thank you very much."Well, this is too much!Beth Hansen is writing about a recipe, which I have read on NPR for the past 127 years: a venerable Thanksgiving recipe from my lateMama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Put To The Test At Amish Markethttp://wjsu.org/post/mama-stambergs-cranberry-relish-put-test-amish-market
33818 as http://wjsu.orgFri, 21 Nov 2014 09:18:00 +0000Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Put To The Test At Amish MarketSusan StambergComedian Sid Caesar, one of early network TV's biggest stars, died Wednesday morning at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 91.Caesar didn't do smut, putdowns or smarmy remarks. Instead, he did skits: grown-up, gentle comedy for the whole family.In one skit, Caesar was the smarter-than-anyone German "professor." Carl Reiner played a movie executive with money problems. The professor's solution? Make a musical — and get the greatest composer in the world. He is shocked to discover that his top choice won't be available."Beethoven, dead? Ludwig is gone. This is a shock. Look at that, you don't pick up a paper a couple of days, you don't know what's going on."In another skit — again with Reiner as the sidekick — the professor was asked about the theory of flying. "What keeps the birds in the air?" he said. "Courage."Ruling A Room Full Of Comedy StarsCaesar was 27 when he launched Your Show of Shows — TV's first and greatest live comedy. His writers became comedy royalty: Carl Reiner, NeilSid Caesar, Who Got Laughs Without Politics Or Putdowns, Dies At 91http://wjsu.org/post/sid-caesar-who-got-laughs-without-politics-or-putdowns-dies-91
23522 as http://wjsu.orgWed, 12 Feb 2014 22:49:00 +0000Sid Caesar, Who Got Laughs Without Politics Or Putdowns, Dies At 91Susan StambergThe comic actor Sid Caesar died on Wednesday at the age of 91. He starred in the popular 1950s program, Your Show of Shows, television's first live comedy show, featuring skits and musical numbers.Sid Caesar, One Of TV's Earliest Stars, Dies At The Age Of 91http://wjsu.org/post/sid-caesar-one-tvs-earliest-stars-dies-age-91
23526 as http://wjsu.orgWed, 12 Feb 2014 21:29:00 +0000Sid Caesar, One Of TV's Earliest Stars, Dies At The Age Of 91Susan StambergIt's that time of year again. Time for Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish. Every year since 1972, around Thanksgiving, I've shared my mother-in-law's famous cranberry relish recipe on the radio. It's appallingly pink, like Pepto Bismol — but it tastes terrific.This year, I bring my relish recipe to Thanksgivukkah. Next week, Thanksgiving and the start of Hanukkah fall on the same day. It's a rare convergence.How unusual is it? Well, the last time Thanksgiving and Hanukkah shared a start date was 125 years ago — and it won't happen again for another 76,000 or so years. The overlap involves the calendar that says this is 2013, and the Jewish calendar based on the solar and lunar cycle.I asked Keith Devlin — Weekend Edition's math guy — to explain."Thanksgiving is the easy one," Devlin says. "You know, it's the fourth Thursday every November. So anybody can do that. That was a nice, simple, American-style celebration that doesn't change from year to year.""But then you've got this thingThanksgivukkah: A Mash Of Two Holidays That's Easy To Relishhttp://wjsu.org/post/thanksgivukkah-mash-two-holidays-thats-easy-relish
20628 as http://wjsu.orgFri, 22 Nov 2013 07:57:00 +0000Thanksgivukkah: A Mash Of Two Holidays That's Easy To RelishSusan StambergTranscript ORSON WELLES: Of course, there are all sorts of fountains. Some are beautiful, some are purely mythological. Some are silly fountains. Of course, the silliest of all, is the fountain of youth. Old Ponce de Leon thought that one was somewhere down in Florida.SUSAN STAMBERG, HOST: Well, actor Orson Welles never found it, but lots of Floridians claim that the Fountain of youth is in their town - Punta Gorda, for instance. Margaret Baumhardt, who lives nearby in Charlotte Harbor, may not be totally convinced, but she is a big fan of the Punta Gorda fountain. She remembers how popular it was around 40 years ago.MARGARET BAUMHARDT: Oh yeah, you had to wait in line to get the water.STAMBERG: But in the 1980s, the Punta Gorda water was tested using guidelines set by the Clean Water Act. What they found almost closed the fountain for good. It turned out the water contains an unusually high level of radium - around 9 picocuries. That's about double the EPA's recommended maximum. InThis Fountain Of Youth Has A Little Extra Zinghttp://wjsu.org/post/fountain-youth-has-little-extra-zing
16833 as http://wjsu.orgSun, 28 Jul 2013 11:07:00 +0000This Fountain Of Youth Has A Little Extra Zing